Man Gets 31 Years For Shooting Officer

NEW BRITAIN — A 27-year-old drifter was sentenced Tuesday to 31 years in prison for shooting an officer responding to a call of youths smoking pot on a city sidewalk.

Lamont Samuelof Massachusetts was sentenced after impassioned pleas from his family for leniency and the prosecutor's request for the maximum sentence.

Officer Paul O'Connor, who suffered nerve damage from the bullet that ripped into his right forearm on Dec. 20, 2001, told Superior Court Judge Susan B. Handy that he thought he would die that cold, winter afternoon.

``At some point during this incident I had a feeling I would die on a dirty sidewalk alone,'' said O'Connor, a married father who is back on the force. ``It was a very lonely feeling to think that I would be murdered on that sidewalk.''

According to court records, Samuel shot O'Connor without warning in the forearm as the officer approached a group of youths on Roberts Street. He beat the fallen officer with his own nightstick, then tried to shoot him, but his handgun jammed.

Samuel was captured at the scene by officers called by residents who witnessed the attack. He has been held since then with bail set at $5 million.

He avoided trial by entering guilty pleas in April to first-degree assault, use of a firearm, attempt to commit first-degree assault and assault on a police officer.

Before sentencing, Samuel, his father, Alex Samuel, his mother, Daphne Samuel, his sister and a family friend each begged Handy for leniency and asked her to consider that Samuel is the father of a 5-year-old child.

``Anyone who knows me knows I'm not that type of person,'' said Samuel, dressed in a yellow prison jumpsuit. ``I have ambition, goals, things I want to achieve in life.''

Samuel and each of his family members apologized directly to O'Connor, turning to face him in the audience.

Handy acknowledged that Samuel is articulate and respectful, and said she believed he is sorry.

``I don't think you're evil. I don't think your life is not salvageable. I do believe you are truly sorry,'' she said.

``You almost killed a police officer,'' she said at another point. ``And there is a severe penalty that attaches to that.''

Samuel's attorney, Norm Pattis, said Samuel, who grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston, was at one point diagnosed with a major depressive disorder that at times reached the level of psychosis.

The plea agreement called for a jail term of between 25 and 35 years.

Samuel faces charges in Boston involving the shooting of two people in November 2001. The couple -- Samuel's former neighbors -- have recovered from their injuries.

New Britain police theorize that Samuel, a fugitive wanted in Boston, shot O'Connor because the officer had asked the four people on the Roberts Street sidewalk for ID.

When O'Connor went down with a broken arm, Samuel told the officer he was going to kill him, court records state.

Then Samuel put his gun to the officer's head and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed.

``That may well have saved the officer's life,'' prosecutor Scott Murphy said Tuesday.

When the sentence was announced, Samuel's mother, near the back of the courtroom and seated against a wall, broke into sobs and began to shake.

The two dozen New Britain police officers present, ranging from Chief William Sencio to the rank-and-file, remained stoic.

``He had a nice family, and you feel sad,'' O'Connor said afterward when asked to react to the sentencing. ``It's a sad situation.''